Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle entertains Rabbie Burns to lunch

By: Murdoch MacDonald

THE latest meeting of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle was a Burns Lunch held at Fouters Restaurant in Ayr.

Guests of honour included John Scott MSP for Ayr, invited members of the press, and Scotland’s national bard himself, Rabbie Burns.

Rabbie recited the Selkirk Grace as Fouters head chef George Ramage and his team served up a resplendent menu of traditional Scottish fare.

After lunch Rabbie led a discussion about how local businesses could make better use of the Burns name and tradition in marketing brand Ayrshire, with Homecoming Scotland - www.homecomingscotland.com - just around the corner in 2009 particularly in mind.

[Picture shows some of the members and guests at the recent Elite Ayrshire Business Circle Burns Lunch. Click on image to view / download full-size version.]

The next meeting of the Circle will be a presentation about the implications for business of Alistair Darling’s first Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, led by Sinclair Scott Chartered Accountants and hosted by Clydesdale Bank Financial Solutions Centre in Ayr. Date to be announced nearer the time.

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle is a newly formed association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.

Its purpose is to celebrate and promote the rich diversity of industry, commerce and business services available within the county boundaries of Ayrshire.

John Scott MSP commented: "Representing some of Ayrshire’s premier companies, the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle plays a valuable role in boosting the Ayrshire economy and in particular promoting through the internet the benefits of doing business in Ayrshire. I’m delighted to support the aims of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, and wish them continued success in the excellent work they do."

For further information about the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle and to apply for membership, e-mail eliteayrshire@gmail.com

THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

Wherever you are in the world, no other public relations consultancy, PR firm or publicity company can offer you a better or more cost-effective worldwide news distribution service, combined with search engine optimisation techniques that will drive customers and qualified sales leads to your company's website.

Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).